Leo Joseph Boivin (August 2, 1931 – October 16, 2021) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and coach who played 19 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Minnesota North Stars from 1952 to 1970.
Playing career
Boivin was born in Prescott, Ontario, on August 2, 1931. He began his junior career in 1948–49 with the Inkerman Rockets of the Ontario Valley Junior Hockey League. He was scouted by the Boston Bruins during a pre-season competition and was signed by the franchise in 1949. He subsequently played for the Port Arthur Bruins of the Thunder Bay Junior A Hockey League for two seasons. Boivin made his NHL debut for the Leafs on March 8, 1952. In February 1966, he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings in a five-player trade.
After one more season with Detroit, Boivin's career was winding down but age 35, he was given a chance to extend his career when the league doubled in size by adding six new franchises for the 1967–68 campaign. Boivin found a new home when he was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1967 NHL Expansion Draft. He spent a season and a half with the Penguins before moving on for a final time when he was traded to the Minnesota North Stars, another expansion club. Boivin retired. He declined the opportunity to extend his career with the newly established Buffalo Sabres.
Later life
After retiring from professional hockey in 1970, Boivin became a scout in his hometown. He also served as interim coach of the St. Louis Blues during the 1975–76 and 1977–78 seasons.
Boivin was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in September 1986. The arena in his hometown was consequently retitled the Leo Boivin Community Centre in honour of him that same year. He worked as a scout until his retirement in 1993 with the Hartford Whalers.
Career statistics
<small>Sources:</small>
{| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em"
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
! colspan="5" | Regular season
! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff"|
! colspan="5"|Playoffs
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! Season
! Team
! League
! GP
! G
! A
! Pts
! PIM
! GP
! G
! A
! Pts
! PIM
|-
| 1948–49
| Inkerman Rockets
| OVJHL
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1948–49
| Inkerman Rockets
| M-Cup
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 4
| 2
| 0
| 2
| 0
|-
| 1949–50
| Port Arthur Bruins
| TBJHL
| 18
| 4
| 4
| 8
| 32
| 5
| 0
| 3
| 3
| 10
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1949–50
| Port Arthur Bruins
| M-Cup
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 16
| 6
| 4
| 10
| 12
|-
| 1950–51
| Port Arthur Bruins
| TBJHL
| 20
| 16
| 11
| 27
| 37
| 13
| 3
| 6
| 9
| 28
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1950–51
| Port Arthur Bruins
| M-Cup
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 7
| 1
| 3
| 4
| 16
|-
| 1951–52
| Toronto Maple Leafs
| NHL
| 2
| 0
| 1
| 1
| 0
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1951–52
| Pittsburgh Hornets
| AHL
| 30
| 2
| 3
| 5
| 32
| 10
| 0
| 1
| 1
| 16
|-
| 1952–53
| Toronto Maple Leafs
| NHL
| 70
| 2
| 13
| 15
| 97
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1953–54
| Toronto Maple Leafs
| NHL
| 58
| 1
| 6
| 7
| 81
| 5
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 2
|-
| 1954–55
| Toronto Maple Leafs
| NHL
| 7
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 8
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1954–55
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 59
| 6
| 11
| 17
| 105
| 5
| 0
| 1
| 1
| 4
|-
| 1955–56
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 68
| 4
| 16
| 20
| 80
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1956–57
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 55
| 2
| 8
| 10
| 55
| 10
| 2
| 3
| 5
| 12
|-
| 1957–58
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 33
| 0
| 4
| 4
| 54
| 12
| 0
| 3
| 3
| 21
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1958–59
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 70
| 5
| 16
| 21
| 94
| 7
| 1
| 2
| 3
| 4
|-
| 1959–60
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 70
| 4
| 21
| 25
| 66
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1960–61
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 57
| 6
| 17
| 23
| 50
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|-
| 1961–62
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 65
| 5
| 18
| 23
| 70
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1962–63
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 62
| 2
| 24
| 26
| 48
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|-
| 1963–64
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 65
| 10
| 14
| 24
| 42
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1964–65
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 67
| 3
| 10
| 13
| 68
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|-
| 1965–66
| Boston Bruins
| NHL
| 46
| 0
| 5
| 5
| 34
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1965–66
| Detroit Red Wings
| NHL
| 16
| 0
| 5
| 5
| 16
| 12
| 0
| 1
| 1
| 16
|-
| 1966–67
| Detroit Red Wings
| NHL
| 69
| 4
| 17
| 21
| 78
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1967–68
| Pittsburgh Penguins
| NHL
| 73
| 9
| 13
| 22
| 74
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|-
|-
| 1968–69
| Pittsburgh Penguins
| NHL
| 41
| 5
| 13
| 18
| 26
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"
| 1968–69
| Minnesota North Stars
| NHL
| 28
| 1
| 6
| 7
| 16
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|-
| 1969–70
| Minnesota North Stars
| NHL
| 69
| 3
| 12
| 15
| 30
| 3
| 0
| 0
| 0
| 0
|- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! colspan="3" | NHL totals
! 1,150
! 72
! 250
! 322
! 1,192
! 54
! 3
! 10
! 13
! 59
|}
Coaching record
<small>Source:</small>
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"|Team !! rowspan="2"|Year !! colspan="6"|Regular season !! colspan="1"|Post season
|-
! G !! W !! L !! T !! Pts !! Division rank !! Result
|-
!St. Louis Blues||1975–76
|43||17||17||9||(43)||3rd in Smythe||Lost in preliminary round
|-
!St. Louis Blues||1977–78
|54||11||36||7||(29)||4th in Smythe||(fired)
|-
! colspan="2"|Total ||97||28||53||16
|}
See also
- List of NHL players with 1,000 games played
References
External links
- Leo Boivin Showcase, Annual Midget AA/AAA Tournament in Prescott, Ontario